1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of interactive voice response systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In telephony, interactive voice response, or IVR, is a technology that allows a computer to detect voice and touch tones using a normal phone call. An IVR system can respond with pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct callers how to proceed. IVR systems can be used to control almost any function where the interface with a caller can be broken down into a series of simple menu choices. Once constructed, IVR systems generally scale well to handle large call volumes.
IVR systems are typically used to service high call volumes, reduce cost and improve the customer experience. Contact centers, for example, use IVR systems to identify and segment callers. The ability to identify customers enables services to be customized according to a customer profile, and allows the option of choosing automated services. Information can be fed to the caller allowing choices such as, wait in the queue, choose an automated service, or request a callback at a more suitable time and telephone number. Interactive voice response can be used to “front-end” a contact center operation by identifying the needs of the caller. Information can be obtained from the caller, such as account numbers. Answers to simple questions such as account balances or pre-recorded information can be provided without operator intervention.
IVR call flows are created in a variety of ways. A traditional IVR application depended upon proprietary programming or scripting languages, whereas modern IVR applications are structured similar to world wide web (“www”) pages, using VoiceXML, SALT or T-XML languages. The ability to use XML-developed applications allows a Web server to act as an application server.
Modern IVR/speech front-end systems for call processing in contact center operations are port based. Each call entering the system is assigned a particular port on an IVR server. The port couples the IVR server to a line of service on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or on a private branch exchange (PBX). The call stays assigned to that port for as long as it is active in the IVR system. As long as the call is undergoing IVR/speech treatment, it is assigned to a fixed port. Contact center IVR systems are therefore sized by the number of ports that they can allocate during busiest time intervals. The port in an IVR system is therefore a very critical resource. An IVR application is written such that it optimizes the amount of time the call is live in the IVR system (i.e., the port usage of the call).
Call volume within an IVR system is not constant and can vary significantly throughout a workday. Since call volume is not constant, port utilization within the IVR system varies. Incoming calls will receive a “port busy” signal when all ports are assigned to other calls. While port utilization varies based on call volume, the prompts played by the IVR application are constant fixed length prompts and do not react to changes in call volumes. Similarly, the call flow is constant and is fixed at the time of design and implementation of the IVR system. Call flow does not change dynamically in response to changes in call volumes. Therefore, the IVR application, which is written in advance for a specific need, makes the caller go through a predetermined call flow with regard for how busy the system may be. The IVR application is unable to respond to changing call volumes. As a result, costly IVR resources are not efficiently allocated during a period of high call volume.